Testing of heat recovery unit yields positive results

On-site testing of a heat recovery landfill unit in Oxfordshire, U.K., has shown an electrical output increase of more than 20 percent from internal testing by developer Clean Power Technologies Inc.

The unit, HR-L 300, produces energy from the waste heat exhaust of a large combustion engine generator set operating on methane-rich gas recovered from the decaying landfill. Prior testing on a large diesel engine in CPTs’ facilities produced electrical outputs 8 percent better than the diesel engine’s operating power, according to the company.

But when installed on the landfill gas engine, the HRL-300 produced an electrical power output of 26.7 kilowatts (kW). With the landfill gas engine operating at 250 kW, the unit is capable of providing an additional 10.7 percent increase in electrical power for export to the grid, according to CPT. The company is now preparing engineering upgrades to the system to verify the performance with the landfill gas engine operating at 500 kW and expects to achieve an output of 50 kW.

“We are very pleased by these results,” said Mike Burns, CPT chief technology officer. “The high exhaust temperatures and flow rates of the methane gas powered engines suit our HRL-300 unit perfectly.” He added that the company is already working on engineering design refinements to the heat exchanger and operating systems. CPT considers 10 percent the new baseline figure from which it will improve the next production units, he said.

CPT is developing and producing its heat recovery technology for further installation on landfill gas-powered generators at other sites in the U.K. The Clean Energy Separation and Recovery system is the company’s proprietary technology to increase power generation efficiency. It can be installed on any heat source of sufficient temperature and generates a continuous source of clean electricity from waste heat energy, according to CPT.